Person of the Week
Kamala Harris
October 20, 1964
Kamala Devi Harris is a United States Senator for California, the second African-American woman and first South Asian-American senator in history. She serves on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on the Budget. Most importantly, she is also the Democratic Candidate for Vice President of the United States as the running mate of former Vice President Joe Biden.
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Growing up in Oakland, California, Harris has always had a stroller-eye view of the Civil Rights movement and has learned the kind of character it requires to stand up to the powerful and resolved to spend her life advocating for those who could not defend themselves. She has spent her life fighting for injustice, a passion that was first inspired by her mother, Shyamala, an Indian-American immigrant, activist, and breast cancer researcher.
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As a member of the United States Senate, Harris has fought for the rights of all communities in California, introducing and cosponsoring legislation to raise wages for working people, reform a broken criminal justice system, made healthcare a right for all Americans, addressed the epidemic of substance abuse, supported veterans and military families, and expanded access to childcare for working parents.
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